Environmental history

The concept of environmental history as a separate sub-discipline originates from the United States, coinciding with the emergence of environmentalist movements in the early 1970s. In Britain in contrast much work that might fall under the category of environmental history has instead been conducted within other areas of the discipline, whether that be the studies by W. G. Hoskins of medieval landscapes or the work of economic historians like Tony Wrigley on the history of coal. Though there are self-defined environmental historians working in Britain, it has been suggested that the subject would be better served by an attempt to establish the environment as an issue for all historians to consider rather than the creation of yet another new historical genre.